Secrets
by number1brawlfan
Summary: Sara relays information to Oliver about a link in Roy's family, and Oliver doesn't want to reveal it. Only for it to backfire. Or several times Oliver hides the truth from Roy, believing it to be for his best interest, only for it to come back to bite him in the butt.


**This was a bit of a side project of mine. I recently came across a note/piece of DC history that Roy was a descendant of Vandal Savage (at least in the comics) and wanted to do write something about it. I was originally going to do one for DC as a whole and one for the Arrowverse, but I think for now I'll do the Arrowverse one (I didn't like how the other one was coming out). This is my first time writing something in the Arrowverse so I hope everyone's not too OoC (if they are), since the few times I've written Roy fics, they were in the DC Universe and the relationship between Oliver and Roy is a tad different.**

Papers plopped down in front of Oliver. They consisted of several copies for the same test. It was a little confusing since it wasn't something he was expecting while in his hideout. He curiously looked up at Sara.

"What's this?" Oliver asked, picking up the papers and scanning through them.

"DNA results." Sara answered.

"From?"

"A criminal that my team had recently faced. Vandal Savage. Ray was running some forensics on some samples of DNA, to see if it matched up with any cold cases, and he found this."

He recalled the man in question. He stirred up a lot of trouble and took an interest in one of her team members. But at the end of the day, he was dealt with, so Oliver wasn't too worried about him.

"I remember him." Oliver recalled. "You told me about him the last time you called. Sounded like a real creep."

As Oliver read through the results, he found one thing in common. A familial match. It may not have been huge, but it was big enough match to bring up an all too familiar name. It was no wonder that it had been ran several times.

"That can't be." Oliver denied. "There's no way he's related to Vandal."

"I don't want to accept it either," Sara admitted, "but he is."

Oliver sighed, burying his head in his hands. This was the last thing he wanted added on his already stressful plate. He thought he was done with all the evil in the family.

"I can't tell him this." Oliver stated.

"You have to tell him." Sara stated.

"Tell who what?" A voice chimed in.

Roy hauled himself deeper into the hideout. He seemed a little tired, a long day of work no doubt. That didn't seem to stop him from being curious. Because of the point he walked in, that was to be expected.

"Sara was just telling me an interesting story and wanted me to share it with Diggle." Oliver lied. "It's about someone they came across the other day."

"Okay." Roy replied with a confused shrug.

Roy went for the training area, grabbing his bow along the way. He wasn't too invested in investigating it at that point, thinking that it wasn't too big of a deal at the moment. With his back turned to the duo, Sara glared at Oliver with disappointment.

* * *

The following day, Oliver would find himself in a similar predicament. This time with Diggle. Sara had filled him in and thought maybe he could get through to Oliver. When she told him, and the fact that Oliver wanted to hide it, Diggle knew he had to at the very least try.

"You should tell him." Diggle stated, looking up from the case files he was sorting through.

"Why should I?" Oliver inquired, folding his arms.

"Because you don't have the cleanest record when it comes to lying about family."

"He doesn't need to know."

"Like Thea didn't need to know?"

Oliver knew he walked into that one. It struck a nerve, but he did walk into it. He and Thea had finally come to terms with it, but that didn't mean he fully came to terms with it yet. But this didn't have to do with Thea.

"That's different." Oliver stated.

"How?" Diggle asked. "You lied that Thea about Merlin being her father and, from what I remember, that didn't exactly end well."

"That was her father. And while I was wrong for approaching it the way I did, at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing. Because at the end of the day, she deserved to know that." Oliver leaned forward in his seat. "Roy doesn't need to know about his immortal ancestor. It's not like he was ever in his life."

"That may be, but he deserves the truth."

"Not now he doesn't."

* * *

A week went by since the discussion of lineage. Oliver still avoided revealing any of what Sara had shared with him, much to the disdain of everyone who did know. Not to mention Sara didn't want to return to her team until Oliver did. What was worse was the fact that Roy seemed to be MIA over the last few days.

And while telling Thea was out of the question, given how she would react, it did make its way to Felicity. She was told not to long after Diggle found out. However, she didn't get the chance to put her two cents in until now. While they were alone in the base.

"I'm just saying, it wouldn't be a bad idea to mention it." Felicity argued. "It might not matter in the long run, but he might benefit from it."

This was a topic that Oliver was getting progressively annoyed with. No one seemed to want to let it go. However, that wasn't going to stop him from inquiring about one hypothetical.

"Would you want to know about a relative this distant?" Oliver inquired.

"Realistically, no." Felicity admitted. "But they're not walking the Earth like this Vandal Savage character is."

An alarm went off, catching both of their attentions. Felicity went to the screen to find out what was going on. She quickly scanned it, getting the information she needed.

"Explosion by the power plant." Felicity stated.

Oliver was already at the door, dressed and ready to go. It was the perfect opportunity to get out of the conversation. And he took it. Felicity, on the other hand, wanted to get the last word in.

"Where not done with this conversation." Felicity stated on deaf ears.

* * *

Green Arrow made it to the scene with break neck speed. Not too far behind was White Canary and Speedy. The flames had only grown since the explosion went off, but thankfully there weren't any pedestrians nearby. But that didn't mean they were alone.

Out of the flames walked a man dressed in a blue jacket and sported dark hair, including facial hair. A sadistically pleased grin. It didn't take much for Green Arrow and White Canary to recognize the man, and it sent a shiver down their spine. Vandal Savage.

"What are you doing here?" White Canary hissed.

Vandal looked back at the burning building. He was intrigued by it and the contents. There was something about this situation that made him proud and it was unsettling.

"They say family is a special thing." Vandal mused. "I found that mine is always resilient." He glanced over his shoulder at White Canary. "He's still in there. Survived a whole week of torture." He shrugged his shoulders. "He should survive if you get him out in time."

His words meant nothing except confusion on Speedy's part. But it didn't take much for Green Arrow to begin to understand what he was talking about. And who was involved.

"You're not the only one who knows how to run a background test." Vandal stated.

White Canary instinctually ran into the building, not caring that Vandal Savage was escaping. Green Arrow followed soon after, knowing she was going to need help. And knowing that Speedy would try to follow him, he acted fast to combat it.

"Stay here!" Green Arrow ordered.

* * *

White Canary fought through the debris. She called out for Roy several times to no vocal response. However, the sound of coughing, pounding, and a chain rattling gave her enough noise to follow. And what she found wasn't any better.

Chained to a beam was Roy. One arm was latched to the beam while the other held a pipe. He was on his knees and covered with cuts and bruises and blood started to clot. He was barely conscious, but the fire and smoke would make sure it wouldn't last. White Canary was horrified and Green Arrow wasn't much better once he caught up.

"Roy!" White Canary gasped, running towards him.

She quickly scanned him, noting his vitals were fading, before eyeing the chains restraining him. Her hands quickly flinched from the heat emitting off of it. She looked around at the scene, focusing on the chain and the beam it was connected to. Both were metallic, but one of them was going to have to give if there was any chance of freeing him.

Green Arrow threw an arrow at the beam. It exploded on impact, allowing the chains to come free. Roy fell forward, consciousness already out of him, falling into Green Arrows arms. He picked Roy up.

"Let's go." Green Arrow urged.

* * *

Speedy anxiously waited outside for the vigilantes. She had no idea what was going on or why they ran into the building, which made it worse. Time seemed to drag on, but when she saw two figures run out of the building, she sighed with relief. But who she saw in her brother's arms was enough to reignite some anxiety.

"Roy!" She gasped, running towards them.

* * *

Beeping from a heart monitor steadily confirmed that Roy was alive. I.V.s were connected to his arms and bandages his arms and face. The doctors were able to determine that, on top of burns and smoke inhalation, Roy had a broken wrist, several broken ribs, bruises all over and a punctured lung.

Everyone had come to visit, but it was Oliver who stuck by the most. While Roy was in and out of consciousness, they kept the conversations simple whenever he was conscious. No one wanted to bring up the motive behind his beating until he had a clear enough head, and enough strength, to listen. Unfortunately, that did mean mentioning it to Thea, who was less than thrilled to hear about her brother's secrecy.

Oliver was the one to keep a constant eye on Roy. With how everything went down, he felt obligated to be there. It also got him away from Thea, who Sara was currently keeping calm.

Roy lightly shuffled as he woke up. He looked at Oliver, who got closer to him. He was concerned as Roy's body tensed up.

"You okay?" Oliver softly asked.

Roy nodded, giving Oliver some confirmation. He seemed pained and irritated as he quickly scanned the room. Roy had something on his mind, and he was glad that he and Oliver had the room to themselves.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Roy asked.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked, having a suspicion about what he was refereeing to.

"That Vandal Savage was my ancestor."

And that was all the conformation Oliver needed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Oliver tried to lie, hoping to save this conversation for later.

"Don't lie to me." Roy stiffly demanded. "When I was his prisoner, he told me a lot of things as he was beating me." Roy hissed. "He told me he got into some files that confirmed we were connected. And when I refused to believe him, he beat me and ran a test in front of me, proving it." Roy leaned forward slightly. "Look, I know you probably were doing what you thought was right, but I have to know the truth. I deserve that much with all of the torture I went through."

"I just wanted to protect you." Oliver stated, confirming Roy's assumption. "I didn't believe that it was going to be a problem for you. That it wouldn't affect you."

There was a moment of silence between them. Roy leaned back, his body getting stressed with how he was sitting. He turned his head to the side.

"Please get out." Roy requested.

Oliver was shocked by Roy's request. With how forgiving he was being, Oliver wasn't expecting Roy to react this way. And Oliver didn't want to leave him without some sort of supervision.

"Why?" Oliver asked.

"I just want a moment alone." Roy sighed. "I want to process everything."

"But…"

"Just go."

It was clear that Roy was getting agitated, both from the physical pain and Oliver's confirmation. A hand lightly hovered over Roy's face. Not wanting to distress him further, Oliver quietly got up and left.

Roy took a deep breath. He wasn't sure how he wanted to take Oliver's confession. As much as he wanted to understand where Oliver was coming from, he couldn't help but feel somewhat betrayed. He saw Oliver several times prior to this, so telling Roy shouldn't have been a problem.

Several moments passed and the sound of Thea and Oliver arguing began to rise. It muffled enough for Roy to hear it, but not enough to completely understand what was going on. It got clearer as the door opened and closed. It was followed by some shuffling before a figure sat down in the chair beside him.

"I already told your boyfriend I want to be alone." Roy sighed.

"I don't blame you. You've been through a lot." Sara admitted. "And boyfriend? He's not exactly my type."

There was silence between them.

"Are you okay?" Sara inquired. "Like really okay."

"No." Roy admitted. "I was abducted, beaten and nearly killed. Not something I exactly wanted. And on top of that, the guy doing it was related to me and Oliver refused to tell."

"I get that. I think we all wanted him to tell you. But this is Oliver we're talking about." Sara bitterly chuckled. "He just wanted to protect you."

"By lying." Roy reminded.

"Look, I know he means well," Roy admitted, "but I am tired of all the lying. This isn't even entirely towards me either. We all want to trust him, and I think we for the most part do. But these lies about people's lives have to stop."

He was upset, and rightfully so. Good intentions or not, Oliver did develop a habit of lying without thinking about everyone involved. Trying to argue with Roy about it wasn't going to go anywhere, and he had every right to be mad about it.

"You're right." Sara agreed. "We've all dealt with it because of familiarity like in Thea's case and the circumstances of the Green Arrow and my 'death' in the cases of John and Felicity and Laurel respectively. Was is right? Not exactly, but it was a bit of a necessity. But I agree, none of use deserved all of the lies. You least of all, given he was pretty much honest with you up until this point."

Roy smirked slightly. He knew she had a point with each argument she made, even if it was against his. However, he was glad that she was at least trying to see things from his point of view.

"I think Thea deserved it less, being his sister and all, but I get where you're coming from." Roy stated.

"True." Sara agreed. "But at the end of the day, he does care for you and he was trying to do what he thought was right. I do hope you can forgive him."

Sara turned her head towards the door for a moment. She could vaguely still hear Thea lecturing Oliver.

"I'll let you have some time for yourself." Sara decided, standing up. "I should probably save Ollie from Thea before she literally chews his head off."

"You probably should." Roy agreed. "I don't think Thea would be too opposed to that idea."

Sara stopped at the door for a moment to observe him. Though in somewhat good spirits, Roy appeared tired and in pain. She couldn't leave him without letting him know one last concern.

"You better get some rest Abercrombie?" Sara playfully lectured.

Roy grinned at Sara's use of his old nickname, which Sara was glad to see. She exited the room, giving him what she promised. The argument was loud for a minute, but it quickly diminished.

It was nice to have someone like Sara around. Though strong willed, which was an admirable trait, she always seemed to have a softer, more caring side to her. Why she had to leave was an anomaly, but Roy was happy for her.

* * *

When Roy was finally released from the hospital, he was confined to a wheelchair. It was temporary, only meant to last for the next week while he recovered. Oliver offered a room for Roy while he recovered. And after several days of contemplating, Roy agreed. Only after taking some time to accept Oliver's apology.

And when it came to Vandal Savage, Sara promised to keep an eye out for him. No one wanted him to get near Roy again. With how unpredictable the immortal could be, there was no telling if he would come back to beat Roy again or try to manipulate him into joining him. Regardless, Roy was going to need some protection for a while, which thankfully came with Oliver housing him.

"I'll be in touch." Sara promised.

"Thank you." Roy accepted.

"For everything." Oliver chimed in.

"You better not let him out of your sight." Sara lectured.

"I won't." Oliver promised.

Sara was the first to depart. She had a team to return to. She shot them a departing wave as she did.

"You ready to go?" Oliver asked, grabbing onto the wheelchair handles.

"Yeah." Roy accepted. "Let's go."

* * *

**Feel free to let me know what you think.**


End file.
